And So We Meet Again
by Ilovepi
Summary: Sequel to The Meeting. Aragorn has grown up. He currently leads the rangers on an orc hunt. Legolas leads a group of elves hunting human bandits. Misunderstanding is certain. can the two groups put aside their differences and fight a common threat?
1. Beginning

And So We Meet Again: Chapter One

_This is the sequel to __The Meeting.__ You don't have to read it to understand this one, but I recommend it. Its ID __number is 3750105. This takes place about thirty years later._

_I own everything you don't recognize and nothing else. The Elvish, including the names, comes from www__._

**And So We Meet Again: Chapter One**

The men rode horses. Strong horses, horses that cantered for hundreds of miles without stopping. The men needed that kind of horse. They were hunting orcs.

They all rode their horses with ease, following the trail. But it was growing late and soon they would have to rest. Finally, their leader raised his hand and said in a low voice, "This is a good place to stop."

The rest grunted agreement and they swung down from their horses and began setting up tents. Only the leader did not begin setting up his tent. He gazed into the distance anxiously, his dark wavy hair disheveled from the day's long ride. With a sigh, he slid off his horse and began to help pitching tents.

Soon all the tents were up. A few men started gathering wood for a fire.

There were about fifteen of them, all on the tall side. They were mostly quiet men but they could all read the language of the woods. A small footprint was like a note for them.

They talked quietly as the fire started. One, shorter than the rest, though by normal standards quite tall, walked off a little, looking around the place they had chosen to rest. He returned a moment later with something in his hand.

"Aragorn," he called, and the dark-haired leader looked up. "I found athelas." At this, Aragorn stood up and hurried over to the man. Without a word, the man handed a leaf to his leader, who smelled it and smiled.

"Thank you so much, Halbarad," Aragorn said warmly. "This will be useful. Where did you find it?"

Halbarad smiled and showed Aragorn where he had found it. Together, they gathered almost all of it, leaving enough so that the crop could reproduce the next spring. They walked back to the camp, where the rest of the group was crowded around the fire.

"Hey, Aragorn, Halbarad, come join us!" one of them called. "We're discussing races."

"Who is racing whom?" Aragorn asked. "I lay my money on myself."

Everyone laughed. "Not that kind of race," someone called, "Races like humans, and elves, and dwarves."

"And hobbits," someone added.

"And what have you concluded?" Aragorn asked, seating himself on a log.

"Humans are the best," said the first speaker. He was greeted with a general roar of agreement. Aragorn smiled but did not say any word of agreement.

"What of the elves?"

Everyone looked at him. "I don't know," said one.

"They're too serious," replied another.

"Tell me, Damrod, how many elves have you met?"

"Um…two," answered Damrod.

"I assure you, Damrod, I have met a couple elves who would not quite qualify as 'serious'," Aragorn replied with a low chuckle.

"You forget, gentlemen, that our fine leader grew up with elves," said Halbarad quietly.

"Oh, yeah," someone said.

"What are elves really like, Aragorn?" a fair-haired man asked, fingering his silver star-shaped brooch.

Aragorn stared into the distance. "It's hard to say," he said finally, "anymore than I could sum up all men in a few statements. Elves are graceful, beautiful, wise. Some more so than others. Elves just are."

The men were silent, staring into the fire, imagining these fascinating beings.

* * *

The sun was rising. Elves were waking up, gathering up their gear and generally destroying any evidence that they had been there.

A blond elf, after crawling out from under his blanket and grabbing a bite of a crumbly cracker, walked over to the horses. The horses were not tied up, nor did they have any saddles. No-one would dare put a saddle on these beautiful and independent beings. They were elvish horses, naturally, strong and fast.

Within an hour, the group was already on horseback, following the trail of a party of orcs.

They did not have much success. The sky was growing dark when suddenly an elf at the back raised his head.

"I hear something," he said quietly.

Legolas hurried towards him. "What is it, Brethil?" he asked.

The dark-haired elf put a finger to his lips. Following his instructions and closing their mouths, all of the party heard horses behind them.

"Those aren't elvish horses," Brethil said quietly. "Humans, probably."

"Bandits," whispered a young elf with venom.

"Eruanna's probably right," another elf commented.

The happiness of the gathered elves visibly and rapidly decreased. They all remembered the incident a few years ago, Eruanna most of all…

"I know how you feel about bandits, Eru," Legolas began.

"With reason!" she exclaimed. "You know as well as I do what they did to _gwador nin_!" (my brother)

"I know." Legolas paused for a moment, glancing around. "He was my friend, too, Eru."

The sound of hoof beats was much louder.

"Let us prepare an ambush for these dear fellows." Legolas' announcement was met with grim smiles. "This is a good spot, with hills all around. All right, usual splits, half on that hill, half over here on this hill with me. Wait for my signal before attacking. Vulture's cry as usual. You half attack them left back, we get them right front. Hurry!"

With the quick efficiency born of years of practice, the warriors split up and followed orders precisely. They were ready when the humans rode into the valley.

_**Reviews are appreciated!**_


	2. Clash

I had almost given up this story when a few wonderful people reviewed and put me on story alert. Thank you! And in case you were wondering, I'm not Tolkien.

Elvish:

Tithen pen= little one

Elleth= female elf

Aragorn first realized something was wrong when the crickets fell eerily silent. He held a finger to his lips for silence. In the sudden quiet that fell over the men, the cry of a vulture was sharp and clear.

Vultures? There were very few vultures in this area. Unless…unless orcs had come through and created more feed for the scavengers? The thought made Aragorn's stomach clench.

And then the attack started.

"Ambush!" he cried. "Defend yourselves!" His last orders were swallowed up by the sudden clash of steel against steel and men's hoarse shouts.

He hadn't even noticed drawing his sword, but the shining steel was in his hand and he turned into the battle.

Very soon he realized that something was wrong. These attackers were too good and curiously, their fighting style was more like his own than a common group of bandits.

A hooded figure bore down on him and Aragorn had no more time to think. Both swords danced in the dim light, in and out, neither capable of reaching the fighter.

It was when the hood fell that Aragorn lost his concentration. The moment where the long blond braids and pointed ears were exposed was the moment his focus faltered and in seconds, his sword was on the ground and the other's sword was at his throat.

"Stop!" he called.

Legolas had to admit that he was almost disappointed in the man, who, as he had correctly guessed, appeared to be the leader. Perhaps he thought that if his men stopped fighting, he would be spared? Selfish man! Were all men like that?

But the man's next words stopped that train of thought. "These are our friends!" he yelled.

"Aragorn, are you crazy?" another man yelled over the din. "They attacked us!"

"They're elves!" the man—Aragorn?—called back. "They're on our side!"

Who were these men, anyway? And why was the name Aragorn so hauntingly familiar?

In the confusion Aragorn's men seemed to be in, the elves quickly disarmed most of them.

"Do not kill them," Legolas called in Sindarin. He looked back at the man, who he still held at sword point. As their eyes met, the strange man's jaw dropped.

"Legolas?" he said incredulously.

Legolas was so surprised, his sword faltered. The man stooped, picked up his own sword and sheathed it, looking back up at the prince.

It was that look that told Legolas who this man was. "Estel…" he breathed, sheathing his own sword.

"The very same," the man replied, with a twinkle in those gray eyes. He bowed. "My lord prince."

"Tithin pen," Legolas returned without cracking a smile.

The two stared at each other for a second longer before all formalities were dropped and they met in a huge bear hug.

Eruanna, her sword still at the heart of the man she had been fighting, stared in utter disbelief at her prince and the leader of these…men. What on earth was happening? The dignified prince was not one to lose his composure like that and what could be so special about this creature?

"Well," said a strange voice, "it appears that our noble leaders are acquainted."

The elleth glanced in annoyance at the man sitting on the ground, who appeared oblivious to the fact that her sword was at his heart.

"Aren't you going to answer me?" he asked. "That's very bad manners, you know."

Eruanna's jaw tightened. How dare this unkempt thing accuse her of bad manners?

"I'm Damrod," he continued. "What's your name, lad?"

That was just going too far. She had to be at least eight times as old as this man and he called her lad? Not to mention that she had never been a lad?!?

"My name," she said shortly, "is Eruanna. And I am not," she continued, turning back to the man, "a lad."

The man seemed, fortunately, lost for words. She turned her back on him.

"But…you're a girl," he finally managed to get out.

"Hardly a girl." she said, "when I must be seven times again as old as you."

Another surprise for this ignoramus. Eruanna turned back to watching her prince and his…acquaintance, who were now talking rapidly.

"Where are your brothers to take care of you?" the man asked. "A nice…lady like you shouldn't be out here by herself."

Brethil had been standing quietly by, listening to Eruanna's exchange with the man, watching Legolas and the leader of these strange men. At first the sharp-eared elf was amused by the man's ignorance, and Eru's short answers. But he too bristled at the man's sexist comments and when the man made such a condescending comment about her brother he turned in spite of himself to slap the man.

But of course, Eru got there first. The man went over in surprise at the barrage of fists. He did, of course, try to defend himself, but his feeble blows were nothing to the blows of Eruanna's anger.

Brethil was at her side in a moment. "Eru!" he whispered, trying to pull her away. She shook him off angrily. "He said—"she growled.

"I heard what he said. Eru, Legolas said not to kill—"Brethil began.

"I—don't—want—him—dead!" Eruanna hissed viciously, each word punctuated by another blow to the now bruised man.

"It sure looks like you do."

Further conversation was interrupted by Legolas, who was suddenly there, flanked by the strange man who seemed to be leader.

"Eruanna Araniel!" he said sharply.

Breathing heavily, the elleth snapped to attention.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?!" Legolas asked harshly.

Eruanna was quiet, glancing in total hatred at the bruised man who was trying to crawl away from her.

"The man almost deserved it," Brethil protested.

"I did not ask you, Brethil. I asked Eruanna."

The elleth was silent.

Legolas was furious. Wouldn't she at least tell him what the hell happened? He'd given her too loose a rein. She was getting totally insubordinate. This was just not okay. And Brethil was trying to stick up for her!

Things might have gotten very bad had Estel—no, Aragorn—not whispered from beside his elbow.

Aragorn—that was another thing. All he wanted to do right now was to sit and talk with his old friend. But no, Eruanna had to cause trouble. Of course, unleashing her on a group of humans had hardly been a good idea, with her pent up hatred of that race. But couldn't she at least pay attention when it was clear that her prince was friends with Aragorn?

"Legolas!" Aragorn was whispering.

"What."

"That man—"

"The one Eruanna was beating up?"

"Yes, him. Legolas, he doesn't know a thing about elves…he's a bit racist—let me finish—and Legolas, humans simply aren't as enlightened as elves when it comes to females, especially _that_ human," he added with a nod in Damrod's direction.

Legolas gave his friend a blank look, and Aragorn inwardly sighed at having to explain the density of his race.

"What _about_ females, Estel?" Legolas asked impatiently, still gazing at the elleth who met his gaze in what was almost defiance—a look he had only seen once before on the face of this particular elleth.

"About their capability to do everything equally with males," Aragorn said reluctantly.

Legolas broke his stare at Eruanna to gaze in astonishment at his human friend.

"Knowing Damrod, he probably said something foolish about women…is that right?" The question was addressed to the male elf who had tried to speak up for his friend.

Brethil nodded and before Legolas could cut him off, he said hurriedly, standing at attention, "My lord, the human said that she shouldn't be alone out here—" he ignored Legolas' sharp gesture that clearly meant shut up and, with the air of one who would finish his sentence or die in the doing of it, continued, "—and he said that her brother ought to be protecting her!"

Legolas froze. The elleth, who had not moved her stare from Legolas' face, straightened up and met his eyes.

Aragorn looked from one elf to the next, then at Damrod, who had been trying to edge away and stopped at the sharp glare from his leader.

The tension slowly drained from the prince's face and he lowered his gaze from Eruanna's. "I am sorry, Eruanna," he said quietly.

"No," Eruanna replied, equally soft. "I disobeyed a direct order. That is insubordination, and I deserve to be punished."

Legolas' shoulders slumped. He knew the rules…and there was no excusing insubordination.

He looked at the tall, slender elleth in front of him as she bravely awaited her impending punishment. Among the wood elves of Thranduil's realm, such a crime was harshly punished. "For the moment," he said quietly, "you are to be isolated entirely from the group. Remain in your tent alone—no contact with anyone until further notice. Will you obey?"

Eruanna did not allow her face to show the relief she felt. Punishment could be a lot worse and it wasn't really a punishment to keep her out of the company of these…_men!_

"Yes," she said.


End file.
